Sunday, December 25, 2011

Japanese NewYear card (year-end, new year tradition part1)

Do you send many Christmas Card in western culture?  That may help you to keep contact with each other like our new year card do.
For us Japanese, it is new year's card not Christmas card we exchange. We send them to the relatives and friends and colleagues and so on. Both of us wrote more than 50 of them all together. According to the Oriental Zodiac, next year is the year of the dragon. So you can see the Chinese letter "辰" which means dragon in one of the card.

These are the examples of the new year post card's back.
We write short message somewhere in there.
クリックすると新しいウィンドウで開きますクリックすると新しいウィンドウで開きます

クリックすると新しいウィンドウで開きますクリックすると新しいウィンドウで開きます

"People born in the year of the Dragon are healthy, energetic, excitable, short-tempered and stubborn. However, they are honest, sensitive, brave and can inspire trust in most anyone. They are the most peculiar of the 12 signs of the Zodiac cycle."

This characteristics is from this page, you can see or calculate in what year you were born.  By the by, I was born in the sheep year, p;)

9 comments:

  1. Dear Orchid,
    What lovely cards and a very interesting post. I was born in the year of the rooster and was impressed with how insiteful the reading was. Happy end of year.
    Love from your friend, Maddy

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  2. Happy New Year to you and your hubby, Miyako! All the best for a happy healthy New Year! xo

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  3. Wow, what a beautiful card. Great information as well :)
    Have a good New Year when it comes.

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  4. Dearest Miyako,

    Well, coming from The Netherlands, we always did write the Christmas Cards as a combination for Happy New Year Card as well. It is only one week difference and therefore worthwhile including this.
    It is quite a chore to write all the cards and each year we're running behind... Time is never enough for covering it all in one 'short' year...
    Love to you,

    Mariette

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  5. It is so interesting learning about your traditions and culture, fom you, Miyako. It would not have the same personal touch were we to read a book on Japanese culture. My Mother always used to send handwritten cards to friends and family at Christmas time, but now we all find emailing so much easier, so in my own family it is a dying tradition. You and your husband have certainly been busy writing out 100 cards between you. My hand is tired just thinking about it!

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  6. very cool! I'm a monkey; Ron is a rat.

    love your cards!

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  7. I have always wondered who sends New Year Cards I have seen them in the stores here in Australia so thank you now I know a little more about New Years Cards.......the cards you have shared with us are lovely I do like them........I had a great Christmas

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  8. I love the New Year cards, Orchid. I have always loved the Oriental zodiac. Both my sister and I are snakes. ;-)

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  9. Thank you for sharing your beautiful cards with us! We do send Christmas cards, but it would be simpler to send New Years cards since it's always so busy before Christmas that I sometimes procrastinate on sending them out.

    I was born the year of the Rat! I surely thought it would be the year of the Dragon since you mentioned that they are the most peculiar of the 12 signs, lol.

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